News By Edition

On Jan. 30, Guillermo Ortiz de Zarate assumed the titles of CEO and executive vice president for ASA.

Valuation Review sat down with Ortiz de Zarate to discuss his vision for ASA, the roles and responsibilities for appraisers, and what the new CEO believes the future will hold for the profession.

Read on for the rest of Part I of our conversation with the ASA CEO.

Valuation Review continues its coverage of opportunities that can help an appraiser’s business thrive in 2025.

We recently spoke with Woody Fincham, president and founder of Fincham & Associates, and a veteran of the valuation profession for many years, who shared his insights into what opportunities appraisers should take advantage of.

Read on to fi nd out what Fincham told us.

The new administration in Washington, D.C., has implemented changes that could affect the appraisal profession, including the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) initiative.

Valuation Review spoke with Dallas Kiedrowski, a certified appraiser and owner of Washington-based Olympic Valuation, who believes the PAVE program has been eliminated..

Read on to hear more of what Kiedrowski told us.

Tony Pistilli, veteran appraiser and the general manager of valuations for Restb.ai, recently penned an article about advanced technology like artificial intelligence (AI) finding its way into the game of baseball.

Valuation Review sat down with Pistilli, who shared his thoughts on this and to find out if AI will help make sure more accurate calls are made on the field.

Read on for this interesting conversation.

Class Valuation began 2025 by announcing the appointment of a new chief revenue officer.

In the two weeks since Rohit Chopra’s removal from the director’s chair at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Donald Trump has named three different individuals to lead the embattled agency.

The third, Jonathan McKernan, is the administration’s pick to run the bureau for the foreseeable future following short but eventful temporary stints by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who will likely remain in the acting director role until McKernan is confirmed by the Senate.

Read on to learn more.

With the 2025 election bringing new leadership, and thus new financial and social policies, to many state capitals, the personal finance website WalletHub recently released its report on “2025's Best State Capitals to Live In.”

According to media reports, the union president for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the agency will cut 50 percent of its staffing.

Valuation Review recently spoke with Jamie Lasher, chief technology officer at Redefining Business Intelligence, for her perspective on how to utilize technology data.

Lasher, an artist with many innovative methods of expression, was also recently the recipient of the “PROGRESS in Lending Thought Leader” award.

Read on for the full conversation.

Clear Capital recently announced the integration of AURA, its appraisal underwriting risk analyzer tool, through Encompass Partner Connect, the latest API framework for mortgage technology from Intercontinental Exchange.

Valuation Review concludes its conversation with Velox Valuations, a national real estate appraisal firm, who recently launched services in the greater Nashville and San Diego areas.

Jason Covington, who is starting the business in Nashville, speaks to how relationships are “everything” in business.

Read on for the conclusion to this story.

In Part II of Valuation Review’s conversation with Tom Armstrong, a Certified General appraiser running a full-service appraisal firm with a personal specialty in Conservation Easements, further appraisal topics were addressed.

Armstrong gave insight into such matters as commercial appraising and multifamily properties.

Read the conclusion to this feature story.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. recently released its March 2025 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report, based on the company’s mortgage, real estate and public records datasets.

This installment analyzed the latest trends shaping the housing market in early 2025, with a special emphasis on rising insurance costs and the ways borrowers are adapting to protect what, for many, may be their most valuable asset.

Read on to learn more.

On Feb. 26, the Cobb County-Georgia Board of Tax Assessors appointed a new director and chief appraiser of the office.

The executive director of the El Paso Central Appraisal District and chief appraiser recently received a prestigious award.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner recently said he would work to reduce regulatory burdens to ease America’s housing affordability crisis and help builders construct more attainable, affordable housing the nation sorely needs.

CoreLogic recently released its monthly Loan Performance Insights report for December 2024.

It revealed 3.1 percent of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), unchanged from December 2023.

Read on to learn more.

Bill Pulte emphasized his family’s successful legacy in the mortgage industry during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development. The Trump administration’s pick to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency fielded questions about his plans for achieving his top priority, if confirmed – “to strengthen and safeguard the housing finance system.”

Embrace Home Loans, a national mortgage lender, recently hired a branch manager for its Viera, Fla,. office.

Existing-home sales fell nearly 5 percent from December to January, but rose 2 percent year-over-year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

MISMO, the real estate finance industry's standards organization, recently announced that it is seeking comments on its new Appraisal Procurement Dataset specification. The 30-day comment period for this implementation guide runs through March 27.

In Part II of our interview with ASA CEO/Executive Vice President Guillermo Ortiz de Zarate, we examine more issues and visions paramount for appraisers that the ASA looks to provide its members.

Ortiz de Zarate finished our conversation discussing additional topics and goals the organization has for the profession.

Read on for the conclusion to this feature story.

Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” offered advice on the subject of change by way of his blog posts “Embracing and Leveraging Change” and “Change is Opportunity.”

And nowhere will one find more changes on a number of fronts than in the appraisal profession.

Read on for more tips and advice for appraisers.

Valuation Review recently launched its inaugural Technology Series of webinars with Tony Pistilli, general manager of valuations at Restb.ai, who engaged in a Q&A format with editor Mike Holzheimer on the topic of Automated Valuation Models.

Read on to learn how you can obtain your copy of the program.

Ivera Group, Inc., a forensic consulting services company, recently announced the acquisition of an independent salvage and appraisal firm.

The firm has assisted insurance companies and self-insured corporations for 25 years in the handling of their commercial property losses involving salvageable products or materials.

Read on for more details surrounding this acquisition.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) dismissed its December 2024 complaint against Rocket Homes Real Estate, JMG Holding Partners LLC, (which does business as The Jason Mitchell Group) and the firm’s owner Jason Mitchell that alleged they participated in a kickback scheme involving referrals and steering homebuyers toward Rocket Mortgage.

On Feb. 20, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner canceled $4 million in contracts promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion”. This savings for the American taxpayer was found by the HUD DOGE Task Force and is part of the department’s larger $260 million review of all contract expenditures.